


Touching Sunrise

by LAWood



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Acute stress disorder, Blood, Gen, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Original Characters - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Torture, Violence, Whump, mental health, original storyline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 14:50:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15317865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LAWood/pseuds/LAWood
Summary: When Danny is kidnapped and tortured by the head of a drugs trading ring it seems like his pain will never end. His partner and best friend Steve wishes he could help, if only he was suffering with acute stress disorder and unable to help. Rated for possible gore, language, violence, torture.





	1. Chapter 1

Danny's head throbbed as he came to. His cheekbone was pressed against the cold, hard concrete floor as he lay on his side. His hands were numb, cuffed together behind his back. When he eased his eyes open, all he was met with was darkness. Darkness created by a blindfold. His ribs ached as he tried to exhale. His breath was blocked by something tied around his face, covering his mouth and lips and leaving just his nose free to breathe through.

Panic set in. Danny let out a small moan as he attempted to sit up, finding his legs unbound. His legs scrambled round on the ground, finding straw covering the concrete. He managed to edge himself up to sitting position and shifted himself backwards. His back found the wall suddenly and he felt a little better. More sturdy.

But where was he? What had happened? He felt warm liquid dripping down the side of his face and was suddenly reminded of the cut on his head. Although he could not rub the blood off his face, he started to remember what had happened. But only in fragments.

He called upon his other senses to try and calmly work out where he was. Smell. He could smell straw, covering the ground. Other than that, nothing. At a stretch, he could smell concrete. If concrete even had a smell. All right then, what about sound?

_Ow!_

Danny suddenly felt his ears ringing violently. Like a bomb had gone off next to him. But wait. It had. When he and his team were closing in on their suspect, there was an explosion. That's all he could remember.

Other than his heart pounding in his head and a loud ringing noise deep inside his ears, he could hear nothing. So he moved onto the next sense. Touch. He could feel the blood being cut off from his hands by the handcuffs. Feel the cut on his head, the bruises on his ribs. He could feel the smooth concrete behind his back and beneath him.

So, going by his unblocked senses; he was blindfolded and handcuffed with his mouth covered in a concrete room covered in straw.

_Fantastic._

 

* * *

 

 

He didn't know how long he'd been sat there. He would have dozed off if his head wasn't throbbing and his abdomen wasn't in so much pain that it made him feel sick.

A loud creak emitted from the other side of the room, echoing loudly around the room which told Danny that the room wasn't very big. He was startled by the sudden noise and straightened his back, wincing slightly at his ribs.

It sounded like a door opening and was followed by a few footsteps, getting closer to Danny. Fear crept through the detective and he stiffened, feeling eyes on him but unable to see. He felt a face near him. Just staring. Hot breath brushed against his face and his heart pounded in his chest, ready to explode.

The face stayed there for a while before two more sets of footsteps entered the small room and approached either side of Danny.

Okay, if he wasn't before, now he was scared.

The two people who had just arrived grabbed Danny's arms and hauled him up to his feet with sharp force. They were clearly two very large men, purely by the lack of effort Danny felt when they lifted him.

He was pulled forwards. Blind steps scared him as he felt he may fall over but he was stopped and pushed down onto a chair. His hands were manoeuvred round the back of the chair and he felt his ankles being tied to the legs of it.

_Shit. What now?_

Someone was fiddling with the back of his blindfold and it was removed, dropping down around his neck. Danny shut his eyes quickly, cringing at the sudden light. He opened them gingerly and blinked quickly to try and focus his vision. A face was in front of him, not as close as before, but close enough.

The detective recognised him. It was Lui Chang, the man that he and his team were hunting down before he was taken here. He swallowed hard. He's seen what this man did to people. He was a very well respected man in, the head of a Hawaiian drugs trade group. Who dabbled in the arts of kidnap, torture and murder.

His last victim had their wrists slit, tongue removed and had two ribs pulled out. By hand. They had been snapped off like twigs post-mortem. The victim couldn't have survived for much longer after that. Poor guy.

But there was no time to sympathise. Now it was Danny who was the 'poor guy'. Helpless at the hands of this sadistic criminal.

Chang's lips curled up into a cat-like grin. "Good morning detective."

Danny would have said something like 'It would be good, if only you weren't here'. But the fabric tied around his mouth refused to allow any words to be formed.

Chang grabbed Danny's face roughly and looked deep into his eyes. The criminal cocked his head to the left as his grin expanded across his face. Sweat beaded on Danny's forehead. Fearful sweat.

"Mmm, I'm gonna enjoy this." Chang snickered in a sinister tone and Danny's blue eyes widened a little.

_Enjoy? Enjoy what?_

 

* * *

 

 

As he started to wake up, Steve felt groggy and dazed. He opened his eyes to be greeted with a clean white hospital room. His brows furrowed lazily and he sat up slowly, feeling like he was going to be sick if he moved too suddenly.

"Welcome back, brah." Chin's voice greeted him from across the room and Steve looked over to see his teammate standing up from the chair and approaching him.

"Hey." Steve croaked, his voice weak from disuse. His mouth tasted like medicine and was awfully dry. Chin handed him a cup of water with a straw and Steve thanked him, sucking up the cold liquid gratefully.

"How you feeling?" Chin asked him after he'd finished half of the water.

"Wonderful." Steve retorted, his voice a little clearer this time. "What about you?" he looked up, noticing a cut on the man's sharp cheekbone and remembering that Chin wasn't that far away from the bomb either.

"Oh, I'm fine, couple of cuts and bruises but other than that…" Chin shrugged and Steve believed him. Thankfully he _did_ look fine. Before Steve could ask his next question, Chin knew what it was and answered it. "Kono's fine too. She just went off to get some coffee, she should be back soon."

Steve nodded, relieved that his team were okay. But he was missing something. Something important. "And Danny?"

Chin didn't answer. His eyes dropped and he slid his hands into his pockets.

"Chin?" Steve sat up a little more and his expression turned serious. "Where's Danny?"

Kono entered the room with two coffees and a smiled spread across her pretty face as she approached. "Steve, you're awake." She stated happily. But Steve's eyes didn't move from Chin.

" **Where. Is.** **Danny**?" Steve demanded. Anger, desperation and downright worry started to build up inside him.

The cousins exchanged worried glances before Chin sighed and looked at Steve. "Brah, we're doing everything we can to find him…"

Steve's heart almost stopped. "He's missing?" He managed to get out, despite the lack of air entering his lungs.

"Everybody got hit by the blast and when we looked up…he was gone…" Kono spoke quietly, biting her bottom lip.

Steve's eyes were the size of dinner plates in his head as he stared straight ahead. He barely blinked. His breathing was fast.

"Steve?" Chin spoke up, not liking the look of shock on his teammates' face.

Steve sprang into action. He whipped the blanket off of him and shifted round so that his legs were dangling off the edge of the bed. Then his head started to spin. His stomach churned and his face was white as a sheet, even a little green.

"Hang on, brah!" Chin grabbed the trash can from beside the bed and held it in front of him. Steve grabbed the trashcan and leaned into it as he was violently sick.

Kono stayed back a little, covering her mouth with her hand. She wasn't good with vomit. Chin held the trashcan with one hand and patted Steve's back with the other. "The doctor said that nausea was normal in secondary blast injuries." He assured Steve and Kono, although he felt like he was assuring himself a little too.

Steve stopped vomiting after a while and Chin took the trashcan away.

"You okay?" He asked, rubbing the sick man's back.

"We've gotta find Danny." Steve grunted. His throat was raw from the acidy vomit and Kono handed him the cup of water again.

"We're trying, Steve. You just rest." Kono told him.

"No, I have to go find him." Steve stood up weakly. He was still a little dazed and confused from the blast and was blissfully unaware that he was dressed in only a paper-thin hospital gown.

"Steve, you can't. You have to rest." Chin placed his hand on his chest and pushed him gently back down onto the bed. Steve had not the energy to retaliate. His head was swimming and he was powerless to stop Chin from manoeuvring him back into the bed and replacing the blanket over him.

He passed out again, his heart racing and his head spinning with thoughts of his friend. His missing friend.

Chin stood back from his unconscious teammate and sighed.

"How long do you think it'll be before he realises that Chang took him?" Kono asked Chin, biting her lip.

Chin didn't answer. He crossed his arms, his brows pulling upwards.

 

* * *

 

 

"Now." Chang began. He released Danny's face from his grip and his face turned serious. "I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to tell the truth."

_How can I answer if you've covered my mouth? You ass._ Danny thought silently behind the fabric tied around his mouth.

"If you cooperate, I'll kill you fast. No pain. If not…" Chang smirked like a sinister cat. "Well, you've seen my work, I'm sure."

Danny shuddered as he recalled the gruesome images from the crime scenes. How can he call that work? He gave a stiff nod, acknowledging that he was familiar with what this man could do.

"Good." The man's smile grew, his fang-like teeth flashing at Danny.

He nodded at one of the men standing either side of Danny and the fabric was removed from over Danny's mouth. The detective cleared his throat and wet his lips a little with his tongue, glad to have his mouth free again.

"Where is Kai Akina's hideout?" Chang asked Danny with a dark look in his brown eyes.

_That's why he took me?_ Of course it was.

Akina was a drug smuggler turned HPD confident. He was wanted by criminals all over the island for turning over their secrets and turning them in to the cops. Danny was a cop, of course he knew where Akina was. But he couldn't tell Chang. Akina would be slaughtered, as well as some of the cops associated with him.

Danny wouldn't turn him in. Not to a sicko like Chang. So he decided to play a game with him. Chang thought he had Danny right where he wanted him. Well guess again. Danny wasn't like Steve. He was a cop, not a Navy SEAL. Steve was trained to withstand torture. Danny wasn't. That doesn't mean Danny couldn't hold his own.

"I'm sorry, sir. That information is classified." Danny spoke as calmly as he could manage. Which, to his surprise, was rather convincing. He flashed a very polite smile and watched as Chang seethed at him.

"I'm going to ask you again." He snarled through gritted teeth, pulling a set of knuckle dusters out of his pocket and slipping them onto his right hand. Danny swallowed hard. This was going to hurt. "Where's Akina?"

Danny closed his eyes. Took a breath. And opened them again. "I'm sorry, sir. That information is classified." His voice was a little shaky, but calm enough to send Chang into rage.

He swung his fist back and brought it at full force into Danny's cheekbone.

_God, that hurt._

Danny's head jerked to his right as he was struck and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

"I think you need to learn a little lesson about obeying orders." Chang had calmed himself and was removing the dusters from his hand. Danny brought himself back up and looked at Chang. His cheek was throbbing and he felt blood dripping down his face down to his chin.

Chang said something to the men that Danny was in too much pain to hear. Then he left the room through the door behind him. But the men didn't.

Danny swallowed hard as the men walked round to the front of him. He was right. These guys were huge. Even taller than Steve and built like gorillas. They both revealed awful smiles and cracked their knuckles.

"You know you're gonna give yourselves arthritis doin' that?" Danny quipped, which was clearly a mistake.

_Note to self. No smart talk._

 

* * *

 

 

Danny lay in the straw. Beaten. Bloody. Barely conscious.

_They clearly don't have arthritis just yet._

Danny almost didn't have enough energy to think. It hurt to breath, never mind move. So basically he was useless.

 

* * *

 

 

It was becoming a habit. Losing consciousness as well as track of time. He didn't even know what time it was. Or even what day. The only source of light in the room was a flickering lamp on the ceiling that emitted a dull orange glow.

Danny opened his eyes, finding that one of them was horribly swollen, but not enough to affect his vision. He moved his arms. His legs. They were okay. It was his torso and head that were swarming in agony. He pulled his elbows up and propped himself up, groaning at the horrible pain in his ribs, his gut, his chest, pretty much everything.

Like he did when he first woke up, he shuffled backwards until he could lean weakly on the wall. He started to assess the damage; internal bruising was certain. Bleeding was unsure. At least one of his ribs were fractured, maybe even broken. His cheekbone could be fractured, his eye was swollen and there were a few cuts on the insides of his cheeks. His lip was busted and his nose leaked blood.

_Awesome. I bet I look like Hell._

He sure felt like it. Having next to no energy to move, never mind the pain that movement was sure to bring, he scanned his surroundings, being thankful that he wasn't blindfolded, cuffed and gagged again.

He was right. It was a small concrete room with straw covering some of the concrete floor. There were two doors. One of them was opposite Danny. That was the one Chang exited through before. The other was to Danny's left. He wondered what it was, if it was unlocked.

After a while, when curiosity got too much for him to handle, he pulled himself up by the wall and hobbled towards the door.

The pain was borderline unbearable.

He made it to the door and collapsed to the ground. His head was spinning. His vision was blurred. He was going to pass out again, he could feel it.

 

* * *

 

He woke this time with a start. Taking in a sharp inhale, his eyes flashed open.

_Damn it._

He cursed himself for losing consciousness and looked around, trying to remember what he was doing before he blacked out.

The door to his left jolted his memory and he observed it. It was wooden, a cheap wood. He bet Steve could break it down without breaking a sweat. The handle was a cheap metal and there didn't seem to be a keyhole below it.

Danny pushed himself up onto his knees, using the wall again. There was definitely more than one rib broken. He cringed and let out a small moan as he got to his feet, breathing heavily as he dealt with the pain.

After a few moments of trying to compose himself, Danny turned to the door. He hobbled over to it and gingerly placed his hand on the handle. It turned with a click and a smile crept up on Danny's face. If only a small one.

The room was small, smaller than the main room. There was a sink, a shower and a toilet. A bathroom. It was a relief. At least his torment would retain some dignity.

He used the facilities and turned to the sink, looking in the mirror just above it.

_Holy crap._

He really did look like Hell. His face alone was enough to scare Gracie.

_Grace…_

It was the first time he'd thought of his daughter and it hurt. It hurt more than his broken ribs and his fractured cheekbone.

He blinked back tears. They hurt his swollen eye.

He shook off thoughts of his family. He would see them soon. He was sure of it. Instead, he grabbed some tissue from beside the toilet and wiped the blood from his lip and nose.

 

* * *

 

 

It took a while, but eventually Danny's face was clear of blood. The swelling in his eye had gone down a miniscule amount as he had pressed a cold piece of tissue to it for a while. His cheekbone was slightly swollen too, but after some observation he was certain it wasn't actually fracture, just bruised.

His ribs were a different matter. The knuckle dusters the men had used had done quite a number on them and they were definitely broken.

He looked at the shower and contemplated using it. His abdomen was coated in blood from cuts on his ribs. There was no lock on the door so there was a lack of privacy but that was the least of his concerns. There was a camera in the corner, staring straight at him.

_Sick bastards._

Danny's upper lip twitched in disgust as he realised that Chang and his men could be watching him. In the bathroom? That's just wrong.

But he would have to overlook it. His health was more important than his pride and he couldn't risk his various cuts to get infected. So he stripped down and stepped into the shower.

It was possibly the worst shower of his life. Not because it was uncomfortable. The water was warm and clean, as far as he could tell. The shower itself wasn't the problem. It was the fact that he was being watched and someone could enter through that door at any moment.

As Danny stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel he found draped across a cold wall heater around his waist, that's exactly what _did_ happen.

One of the large men from before entered and dropped some clothes on the floor in front of Danny. He bent down and collected Danny's worn clothes that had been dumped in the corner of the room, before leaving again, not sparing a glance at the drenched detective wearing nothing but a towel.

He had left a black shirt, black pants and three pairs of clean underwear. The outfit wasn't unlike his usual attire, aside from the fact that Danny would never wear a black shirt in the hot Hawaiian sun.

He was confused. In fact, that word didn't even begin to describe the lack of sense in this situation. These men kidnapped him, beat him and yet they provided him with clean facilities in which to clean and relieve himself. They even gave him clean clothes to last him at least three days. Perhaps until his next shower?

The detective didn't like being confused. It's dangerous to not understand the situation you're in and his situation was dangerous enough.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

A sharp shriek ripped through him as he woke up with a start. The SEAL's body was coated in cold sweat as his chest rose and fell at a rapid pace. Flashbacks were a normal occurrence in acute stress disorder, which Steve still refused to believe that he had.

He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands, still trembling from the nightmare/flashback. The doctors had sent him home, assigning Kono to watch over him while Chin helped out in the search for Danny.

It drove him crazy. Here he was, suffering from a stress disorder while Danny was probably in more 'stress' than Steve could even imagine.

It didn't take him long to figure it out. Lui Chang had taken Danny to extort information about Kai Akina, the next police informant on Chang's hit list. And after observing Chang's recent kills, Steve couldn't bear to think about what he might be putting his partner and best friend though.

_Maybe they were beating him senseless every few hours._

_Maybe they were cutting into his flesh slowly to prolong the pain and induce blood loss._

_Maybe they were-_

Steve whipped the sheets off of his sweat clad body and sat on the edge of the bed. His elbows were rested on his knees and his head was in his hands.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, after Steve had spent the night pacing the floor and punching the walls, Kono stepped into the room to check on him. He was curled up on the floor wearing just his pants with the bedsheets sprawled out around him. He was coated in sweat and violently shivering.

"Steve?" Kono froze, unsure about how to approach the scene. Then her police training kicked in and she threw herself down beside her teammate. "Steve!" She cried out, grabbing his shoulders to try and rouse him from his current state. His eyes were open and he was breathing, but they were glazed over and he didn't respond to any physical stimulus.

She whipped out her cell phone and dialed her cousins number. "Chin, you need to get over here, now."

Chin arrived a little later and knelt beside Steve.

"Steve?" He beckoned to him, shaking his shoulders gently. "Steve, brah. Can you hear me?" He spoke softly, like he was talking to a frightened child but still got nothing more than a blink from Steve.

"I'm calling an ambulance." Kono stated but Chin held up a hand.

"Hold on." Chin turned to her. "He wouldn't want that. Let's just take care of him. He just needs a little time, he'll be fine."

Neither of them believed what Chin had just said, but they were willing to go along with it anyway.

They managed to get Steve to sit up and even nod his head when asked if he was okay. Chin tried to get him to eat but he went into a state of violent shivering before he could manage even a mouthful. It was hard, but Chin and Kono were devoted to their friend and perservered.

In the back of their minds, they were still thinking of Danny. They knew that if Steve was in a fit state of mind then he would tell them to stop fussing over him and go find Danny. Kono was hardly off of the phone as she was desperate for updates on the search for their missing teammate, but neither she nor Chin could leave Steve. Not now. Not with him like this.

 

* * *

 

His body was numb, his mind even more so. He could barely even hear Chin when he asked if he was okay. He just nodded. Although he wasn't.

He wasn't okay at all. He needed help, but Danny needed it more. Steve tried to be stong and block out the anxiety that was building up inside him but he couldn't. He cursed himself for not being stronger. He was the ex Navy SEAL. He was the one who had gone through more Hell than the others. He was the strong one. Maybe that was it. Maybe after being strong for so long he couldn't take much more. Maybe this was his breaking point.

Steve was grateful to Kono and Chin but wished they would leave him and go find Danny. Well, didn't he? If he was alone it would probably be ten times worse. Having his friends near him was a great comfort and if they weren't there he would be in a state of wild panic. He knew this, yet he still wished they would go and help with the search.

He needed them, but Danny needed them more.

Kono's voice brought him out of his thoughts when she hung up the phone and told Chin, "They set up a raid in one of Chang's known hideouts."

_"Danno?"_ Steve's weak voice didn't reach Kono and Chin.

"Did they find him?" Chin asked, hope rising in him. But Kono shook her head and the hope crashed down. "Damn it." Chin cursed quietly.

Steve's head dropped.

_Where are you Danny?_

 

* * *

 

It had been a lonely day. At least, it felt like a day. Danny wasn't sure just how much time had passed. He had been left alone today. Alone to heal as he sat on the floor, caressing his throbbing ribs and pressing a cold tissue to his swollen eye and cheekbone.

Danny spent the next hour thinking about Grace. Did she know what had happened to him or had Rachel told her a lie. He hoped for the latter. He didn't want her to be worried. Or sad.

Thinking about Grace was too much for him to handle. Even considering the possibility of never seeing her again, never holding his little monkey in his arms again was almost enough to send him into a break down. So he stopped thinking of her.

He blocked her from his mind as gently as he could and turned to other topics. His mind switched to his team.

_Kono._

_Chin._

_Steve…_

Were close to finding him? Were they even looking?

Of course they were. Danny mentally scolded himself. They're his friends, of course they would be trying to find him. To save him.

He thought back to when the bomb went off, the last time he saw them.

He could see Steve, although his vision was blurred. The SEAL started towards him before he was thrown by the blast onto his back. He didn't get up after that and Danny eventually lost consciousness.

He then started to wonder if Steve had made a full recovery. Danny had suffered the effects of shockwaves from the blast and was thrown into something before dropping to the ground. His injuries were external rather than internal. Except from the infernal ringing in his ears from the explosion.

But everyone reacts differently to certain things. Steve's body could have been affected internally, in which case there was a strong possibility of a pulmonary contusion or worse.

Danny stopped himself. He couldn't think of Steve or his team. It was almost as painful as Grace.

It had been too long. Too long since his last human interaction. Danny felt like he was going insane. Left alone with nothing but his thoughts, memories and fears.

He sat with his back against the wall and his knees up, his elbows resting on top of them as he ran his fingers through his hair. He tugged at his hair, the pain being the only thing that made him stop thinking.

His broken ribs had become numb, he was almost getting used to the pain and didn't have the energy to even care.

The door swung open and Chang stepped into the room, his two men in tow just behind him. Danny looked up weakly. He hadn't realised it until but he was completely famished.

"Feeling chatty today, detective?" Chang taunted.

Danny didn't respond, he dropped his head again.

The two men approached him and hauled him to his feet again. It hurt. It hurt like Hell and he had to bit his lip hard to stop himself from screaming out. His ribs were on fire as he was forced upright.

"I'll give you a chance now to talk before we begin." Chang said, standing in front of Danny and grabbing his jaw with one hand. "Where's Akina?"

The men had hold of Danny's arms so there was no chance of him escaping or lashing out at Chang. So the only way Danny could still defy this man was with his words.

"I'm sorry, sir. That information is classified." Danny croaked out. He tried to sound cocky but his voice was weak as he hadn't used it in who knows how long.

Chang's expression turned sour and he released his grip on Danny with a jerking motion. Chang gave the two men a nod and Danny was plunged into darkness. His blindfold was placed back on and his mouth as covered by the same bit of fabric as the last time.

"Get him on the table." Chang ordered the two men and they forced Danny forward, making him walk forward and out the door.

I don't know if you've ever been forced to walk while blindfolded, but it's pretty hard. In fact, if the two men holding him up weren't immensely strong then he would have been face first in the concrete several times.

He walked for what seemed like an eternity, but probably wasn't anywhere near as long. Still walking on solid concrete, he heard a door being opened and was walked through it.

"Strap him down." He heard Chang's voice snarl an order.

Before he could get his thoughts together, he was slammed down onto a table, facing upwards. He started to panic.

_What the fuck?_

He started to struggle, pulling against the hands around his wrists, and ankles, but it was no use. His wrists were tied down on the table beside his head and his ankles were tied to the table too. They started to cut off his shirt and his mind went wild.

He yanked against his restraints and started to squirm away from the knives ripping off his shirt. But his shirt was removed nonetheless.

He wasn't ashamed to be shirtless, he was proud of his physique, he just felt exposed and didn't want these sickos to get a hold of his bare flesh. Who knows what they could do? Oh wait, he does. He saw the crime scene photos, the bodies, the blood... He forced those thoughts out of his mind, blocking out the fact that that could be his fate pretty soon.

Curiosity crept in and he wondered why his wrists were bound next to his head instead of by his side. His questions were answered as he felt someone prodding him in the side.

You know that tender area on your ribs just below your underarm? Well, that's where they were prodding. And it was damn uncomfortable.

His blindfold was removed and so was the fabric around his mouth. His eyes opened and a dingy orange glow burned into them. He shut his eyes quickly to shield them from the light and after a few moments he eased them back open. The room was dark, other than the dim light and Chang's face smirked down at him.

He pulled out a large scalpel and Danny's heart near stopped.

"Last chance." Chang snarled, stroking the length of the scalpel with one finger.

Danny didn't speak. His eyes were wide as he watched the man make love to the instrument with his eyes.

"Okay, fine." Chang shrugged and sliced the scalpel into the tender skin in Danny's side.

A sharp, angry pain ran through Danny and his teeth slammed together. His jaw clenched tight, his fists balled up into fists as he bit back a shout of pain.

_It's okay. You can handle this. It's only pain._

Danny talked himself through it, keeping calm and blocking out the pain as the scalpel reached around his waist and stopped.

"That was just the introduction. Speak now to avoid the main event." Chang raised a brow, tilting his head and looking down at Danny.

Danny resisted the urge to spit, _fuck you,_ in his face. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, calming himself down and blocking out the pain before he simply said. "I'm sorry, sir. That information is-"

He was cut off by a meat hook digging into his torso and a scream ripping out from him. It was a shock to the system in every sense of the phrase. His vision flashed white as his flesh was ripped by the metal hook and he could just hear the sound of Chang's laughter over his piercing screams.

"You may want to reconsider your answer detective." Chang cackled. He readjusted his grip on the hook and gave it a tug, prompting another surprised shriek from Danny.

He pressed his head back against the table and let out a low moan of pain, his gaze facing the sky. That was all he wanted. To just float up and reach the sky, beyond the dark, dingy ceiling of the dark, scary room.

_That's it Danno, just think about the sky._

The voice that Danny was talking to himself in was starting to sound a lot like Steve.

_Steve._

His rock. His best friend. The one person that knew how to get to Danny and always knew what he was thinking.

Rachel was different. Their relationship was romantic and loving.

Steve and Danny's friendship was more than that. It wasn't based on love or feelings towards each other. It was trust, respect and the fact that neither one of them would hesitate to lay down their lives for the other.

Danny closed his eyes and thought about Steve. He thought about Steve bursting in the door and saving him like the Super SEAL he knew and loved.

A sharp pain snapped Danny from his thoughts as he felt his skin break. He looked up to see Chand holding the meat hook up to the light and…

_Oh God…_

Danny's flesh was hanging off of the hook and then the pain struck hard in his torso. He swallowed hard, letting a weak groan of agony slide through as his head dropped back against the table.

_It's over, Danny. Just breathe. You can do it._

He closed his eyes and breathed. His torso felt like it was on fire but he blocked it out, thinking of Steve and how strong he would be in this situation.

"Hey." Chang's voice brought Danny violently out of his peaceful thinking. "We're not finished here yet."

 

* * *

 

_Steve glanced at Danny before returning his eyes to the road. "You okay, Danno?" he asked his partner, noticing the far off look he had adopted._

_Danny snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Steve. "Hm? Yeah, no I'm fine." He shook his head and sat up a little._

" _Danny." Steve looked at his partner with a raised eyebrow for a moment, as long as he could while he was driving._

" _Don't give me that look." Danny scolded him softly._

" _What look?"_

" _That look, the look you're givin' me right now!"_

" _It's my face! I can't help how I look!"_

" _Yes, but the expression you are showing me right now, that's the look!"_

" _Well I'm only giving you 'a look' because you're lying to me."_

" _No I'm not, you asked if I was okay I said yes, what was the lie?"_

" _You're not okay, you looked like you were gonna cry."_

" _No I didn't!" Danny snapped but reigned himself in and took a breath. "Okay, y'know what, let's just not talk. All right?"_

" _Fine with me." Steve shrugged and returned his attention to the road._

_The pair continued the journey in silence until they pulled up by the docks. They climbed out of the car and met up with Kono and Chin._

" _Any movement?" Steve asked them._

" _None, I don't think they know we're here." Kono answered, resting her hand on the gun on her hip._

" _Let's hope so, maybe we'll get the element of surprise on our side." Steve answered with a stiff nod._

" _So what's the plan? Just go in, guns blazin'?" Danny asked, fiddling with his bulletproof vest._

" _We'll try and get round to the back entrance and get the jump on 'em. The other officers will cover the front entrance just in case we're spotted and they try and escape."_

" _Sounds good." Chin agreed._

" _All right, let's go." Steve nodded. He tapped out a few hand signs to the others as they made their way towards the large, run down establishment._

_Steve and Danny would go first; Kono and Chin would bring up the rear, keeping an eye out for dangers the other two missed or anything else._

_They made their way round to the back entrance and ducked behind some crates, Kono and Chin taking their hiding places a little further behind._

" _Do you think they know we're here yet?" Danny asked Steve quietly._

" _If they did I'm sure we'd know about it." Steve retorted, but Danny was shaking his head._

_"Somethin's not right." He turned to his partner. "Cover me." He quipped before stepping out from behind the crate and heading forward, his gun held out in front of him._

_"Dann-Danny!" Steve swiped his arm out to try and pull him back but he as already gone. "Shit." He cursed quietly, returning to his hiding place but keeping his eye sharply on his partner. He made a silent promise to cover him and Danny knew that he would._

_Danny was never this wreck less, what the Hell was he doing? Steve stayed quiet. If he shouted out then he would give everyone away._

_The detective stopped by the entrance and put his back to the wall beside the door. Steve got up to make his way towards Danny but Danny waved his hand, telling him to stop._

_Steve frowned, questioning his partner but he obeyed, trusting that Danny knew what he was doing._

_He placed his hand on the door handle and swung it open, shoving his gun in front of him and entering the building._

_What the Hell is he doing? Steve was starting to get really worried. He shot a panicked look back at Kono and Chin who were just as confused._

_A few moments later, when Steve was about ready to race forward and follow Danny, Hell erupted._

_Danny burst out of the door and ran towards them all._

" _It's a trap!" He yelled out._

_Steve sprang up and retreated quickly. Kono and Chin started to run back too and suddenly the team were in a mad dash for their lives._

 

* * *

 

 

Steve woke up on the couch with a start. He sat up and rubbed his forehead, wiping away the sweat.

He went to his bathroom and took a shower before changing into something other than sweats before taking a seat on his bed.

"Hey." Kono entered the room with a smile.

"Hey." Steve returned weakly.

"Can I get you something?"

"No, thanks." Steve shook his head.

Kono lingered in the doorway for a moment, observing her friend before the doorbell rang and she hurried to answer it.

Steve would have found it weird that Kono was answering _his_ doorbell if he had enough energy to even care.

He heard voices, but couldn't make out who they were or what they were saying, when Kono returned to the doorway.

"You've got a visitor." She told him.

"I don't wanna see anyone." Steve retorted with a grunt.

"I think you'll wanna see _them_." Kono said before leaving.

Steve sighed and reluctantly stood up. He made his way into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the last two people he wanted to see at this moment in time.

"Uncle Steve!" Grace ran forward to him, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Oh, hey Gracie." Grace jumped up and Steve lifted her into his arms.

Rachel flashed a weak smile and Steve returned it just as weakly.

"I heard you were sick, are you okay?" Grace asked him, tracing her finger across the large gash on Steve's forehead.

_Sick? Try traumatised and mentally exhausted._

"Yeah, I'm okay now." Steve smiled at the young girl.

Grace had them all wrapped around her finger. None of them could resist her bog brown eyes and her sweet little face.

"Where's Danno?" She finally asked the question that Steve didn't want to hear. He looked at Rachel but she wouldn't meet his gaze. "Mom told me he was on vacation but I know he's not."

"Well…h-how do you know?" Steve tried to roll with whatever Rachel had told her.

"Because everytime I ask about him she starts crying."

Steve's stomach dropped. Rachel covered her mouth with her hand and rushed out the door. Kono hurried after her.

"Uncle Steve, where's my Dad?" Steve met Grace's eyes. They were threatening to leak with tears and Steve's were too.

"Um…" Steve placed Grace back on her feet and crouched down to meet her eye level. "Listen, uh…"

"Is he okay?" Grace pressed, her bottom lip starting to tremble.

Grace was young, but not stupid. He couldn't lie to her, he wouldn't.

"Grace, um…Your Dad is…Well, we don't know where Danno is." He told her, biting his bottom lip.

"He's missing?" Grace's expression turned horrified.

"Yeah...but don't worry. Auntie Kono, Uncle Chin and me. We're gonna find him, okay?"

"Okay." A tear dropped from her eye and it broke Steve's heart.

"Hey." Steve said softly, reaching to wipe away the tear from her cheek. "He's gonna be fine. He's probably just out catching the bad guys and lost track of time." Okay, there was the only lie he would tell.

Telling Grace that her Dad was missing was hard enough, but he would not tell her that he was being held hostage.

_Oh, crap._

The panic was back. He started to sweat and his breathing quickened.

"Uncle Steve? Are you okay?" Grace asked, growing concerned.

Steve stood up, taking his face away from Grace's reach. "Yeah, I'm fine, Gracie." He answered quickly.

Kono and Rachel returned to the room. Kono was comforting a sniffling Rachel and sat her down on the couch.

"It's okay, mommy. Danno's just out catching bad guys. He'll be fine." Grace hurried to her mother and climbed up on the couch beside her.

"I know, sweetie." Rachel wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her in for a tight hug.

Steve had escaped during the tear-fest. He couldn't take it for much longer. He climbed into his truck and drove to the Five-0 headquarters.

The pity-party ends now. It was time he found Danno.

 


End file.
